Still the Same
by Skye
Summary: Elyon hasn't seen her friends for years. A lot has changed, but not everything. Cornelia/Elyon


**Still the Same**

Elyon trudged through the forest. She had been separated from her army, on a mission to protect the people on the very outskirts of her kingdom. The danger wasn't to her, she could certainly protect herself. She mainly worried for the safety of the soldiers, the safety of her people. Right now there was a fight, and instead of protecting her people by helping her soldiers, she was lost in the wilderness.

What an embarrassing situation. It wasn't as if Elyon had grown up here, on this planet, but she had lived there for over a decade. She should be able to find her way around her own kingdom, she scolded herself. And what could be happening now because of her incompetence? Terror? Death? If only she could...

Elyon reached a cave. She could hear voices from inside. She tried to make out the words, but could only hear the jovial tones. She caught a word hear and there through the echoes, and decided that these must be the people who had separated her from her army with some kind of magic. "Queen... Hopeless!" Elyon heard through laughter. She felt anger going through her. Neither her nor her citizens were hopeless. She'd show them just who they were dealing with. She began to glow. The light of meridian was ready to strike. Although Elyon still hadn't mastered her great power, through the years she had become become much better at controlling them.

But something surprised her and made her stop. "Don't even bother getting your hands dirty," Elyon heard a voice say. She turned and saw a person she had seen often years ago, yet who now had became unfamiliar to her. How many years had it been since she'd last seen her?

"Cornelia!" Elyon exclaimed.

"These freaks have been giving us trouble on our side too," Cornelia informed.

"But how?"

"That's what we're here to find out. It's time to shut them down," Cornelia affirmed. "Allow me," she said with a smile. Cornelia then moved her hands forward. Elyon stared. The sounds in the cave changed from jovial conversation and laughter to screams. Eventually outside the cave there was a tangle of vines, the perpetrators trapped within them.

Elyon stared right into the eyes of one of the dirty, entangled men. She could see fear in his eyes. "You will answer to what you've done in court," she said. The man relaxed a little. Elyon still stared coldly at them. They might only understand death and destruction and think she was being merciful, but they **would** pay for everything they'd done. She'd make sure of that.

"Lead some of my soldiers here to arrest them," Elyon ordered Cornelia. Cornelia nodded, and flew away. Elyon looked back at the trapped men, not daring to underestimate them. Still, she thought of the previous exchange. She had been used to giving orders, but Cornelia was her friend, quite familiar, despite their years apart. Should she have put it a different way? No, this was a battle, of course Cornelia understood her manner.

Elyon thought more of her friend. Cornelia looked exactly the same as she remembered her. Of course, Elyon herself must look a little different to Cornelia, she considered. Her hair was grown out somewhat longer, and she had grown a little taller. But short is short, and she was still vertically challenged, while Cornelia was very tall, so maybe Elyon hadn't changed so much at all in her eyes either. Oh, what was she thinking of at a time like this, Elyon thought to herself.

Cornelia showed up again, this time with soldiers following her. She freed the men trapped in the vines, only for them to be bound again as they were arrested one by one. "Give me the status of the battle in town," Elyon ordered a soldier.

Cornelia answered for him. "Battle's done, we won," she said nonchalantly. "The other guardians found a portal they were traveling to earth from. Will closed it. With that done and all of these troublemakers in your prisons, I don't think we'll have much trouble with them again."

Elyon looked around and saw the victorious expressions on her soldier's faces. "Thank you!" she said to Cornelia.

"It was nothing, really. We had to deal with our own problems, I guess we solved your's at the same time."

"We've been fighting them for weeks, and you-"

"We've also been fighting them for weeks," Cornelia affirmed. "It was nice to work together again though."

Once back at the castle, Elyon felt joy at seeing all her friends again. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed them before. She made an announcement to her people. "We will have a celebration of our victory, and the guardians help," Elyon paused and looked over at her friends. "You will stay and be honored for your assistance," she finished in an authoritative tone.

"Well, your highness, when you put it that way," Irma laughed.

"Come on, like it's that big a deal." Cornelia glared at Irma.

"I know, I know." Irma waved her hand.

Elyon quickly had a feast prepared. The guardians sat by her, now in plainclothes. Elyon was surprised, as the plainclothes guardians now had very little difference, appearance wise, from their powered-up counterparts. But she really shouldn't be surprised, Elyon reminded herself. After all, they were all adults now.

As she and her friends celebrated, there were many reminders of that. "It's getting so late! I've got to crash here. That okay, Elyon?" Hay Lin asked.

"Of course. All of are welcome to stay," Elyon assured.

"Because we know she has no shortage of rooms," Irma commented.

"I've got to get back home," Will sighed. "Matt will be worried about me."

"You and Matt, are you married now?" Elyon asked.

"Yes, two years now," Will said happily.

"Oh, you and Matt, big deal. At least your husband knows about everything. Mine's still in the dark, and has to stay that way. He absolutely could not handle the truth. Plus, I have two kids to help take care of! What am I going to tell him tonight?" Irma worried.

"Tell him you're cheating on him," Cornelia jokingly suggested. Irma looked unamused.

"Two kids?" Elyon repeated.

"Yeah. See, here's my two little girls," Irma took out a picture.

"Oh," Elyon cooed. "They look so sweet. Are they about the same age?"

"Fraternal twins," Irma explained.

"I see," Elyon said. She imagined herself as a child. Laughing, playing, having a normal two-parent family... Those times were completely lost to her now.

"They're not so sweet when you're baby-sitting them for hours," Taranee said.

Elyon looked over at Taranee, noticing that she also had a ring. "And you're also married?" she asked.

"Engaged, but I'll get to the marriage part pretty soon," Taranee said.

"Wow," Elyon said. She wished she had kept up with her friends. But there had been so much for her to do, so much that they had to do. Their worlds had gradually separated until she didn't talk to them at all. She regretted it.

"And how about you, Miss Queen? You can't tell us that there aren't millions of men on this planet who want to be your's," Irma teased.

Elyon blinked. Of course, they expected her to grow up just the same as them. There had been some suitors, a little courting, but Elyon found it more annoying than anything else. It sometimes took a while for her to get those men to stop pestering her. "I don't really have time for that kind of thing," Elyon explained.

"Come on! Your mother had time, her mother had time, her mother's mother had time, and they were all queens just like you!" Irma said.

"Not so early," Elyon said softly. All of her ancestors had been adults before taking the throne.

"It's okay, Elyon. I'm not into that kind of thing either," Hay Lin consoled her. "No dating for us free spirits!" Hay Lin held up Elyon's hand and grinned.

"Elyon looked over at Cornelia. She had a dark expression. "What about you?" Elyon asked her.

"I am tired of this entire conversation, and dating. I'll be glad to join you 'free spirits,' because I'm so sick of men in general." Cornelia said.

"Not this again. Time to change the conversation!" Irma shouted.

The conversation did change, to reminiscing about past events in school, reports on what had happened on both world's side in the battle, and other topics. Will and Irma left first, Taranee and Hay Lin decided to stay, and were led down to the guest rooms. Finally only Elyon and Cornelia were left, with some of her soldiers and subjects. Elyon took the time to talk to them as well, but then she and Cornelia were left alone. There was a silence, then Cornelia stared at her. Her expression seemed sharp, and Elyon looked away.

Elyon remembered the last time they'd met. Harsh words had been exchanged. She couldn't even remember what they were, only how she'd felt afterwards. Hurt, alone, devastated. She'd not had the courage to see her friends since, and none of them had come to see her. Tonight had been nice though. "I'm going to retire for the night," Elyon said, then nodded at her guards and guests. She began to walk to her room. She slowly broke into a run when she was far enough away.

_No crying..._ Elyon told herself. _I'm too old for that._ Elyon didn't cry, but she did gasp when she saw a shadowed figure float down in front of her. The figure came into view, a tall woman with long blond hair, Cornelia in her guardian form. "What's the hurry?" she asked as she switched back to her normal clothing.

"Cornelia, I, I guess I'm just tired and wanted to sleep," Elyon said.

"It's been a long time," Cornelia said. "A long time apart. Too long. Why didn't you ever come to see me, Elyon?" Cornelia asked.

"Why didn't you come see me?" Elyon countered.

"I know I said some harsh things... And you said I was pushy. I didn't want to seem like that to you. I wanted to give you the chance to say when you were ready to talk again. When I didn't see you at all for a month... For a year... I thought the door was closed." Cornelia frowned.

"I couldn't think about it. When you said those things to me, then never came back again, I thought it was because you didn't want to see me any more," Elyon said.

"It's nothing like that!" Cornelia insisted. "I guess it was stupid of me to not try and see you or talk to you again," she admitted.

"And me!" Elyon said.

"No, don't. Just don't, Elyon. I'm the one who should have apologized a long time ago."

"I-" Elyon began. "It really doesn't matter. When I saw you, I was just so happy. It was all like before, when we were friends. Can't we just go back to being like that?"

"Well," Cornelia smiled. "I don't know if we can be exactly the same as before. But, it would be nice to see you often again."

"Yes!" Elyon breathed a sign of relief. Cornelia grabbed her hands and squeezed them. Elyon felt a warm sense of nostalgia.

"I have a lot to tell you. So much happened. When things happened to me, and when the others got married, all those big things, I always thought about you, and wished you were around."

Cornelia and Elyon went and sat down in Elyon's room, as Cornelia added her own spin on many of the events that had occurred through the years. Elyon noticed a trend of her dates since Caleb. No one was actually mentioned by name, just brought into stories. "So, how many have there been since Caleb?" Elyon asked.

Cornelia paused for a moment. "There's been no one serious since Caleb."

"Are you sure, no one?"

"No. I never really felt anything for anyone else. I've dated a lot... Some men... Also women..."

Elyon's expression changed to shock. "Women!" she asked.

"I never told the other guardians about it. I don't care much for what they'd think."

"I don't think they would have cared," Elyon said.

"Sure," Cornelia rolled her eyes a little. "Is that how you feel? You don't care?"

"I-" Elyon paused. "I don't mind. You're still my friend."

"Friend?" Cornelia said flatly. She ran her fingers through Elyon's hair, then looked in her eyes.

"Yes, of course," Elyon confirmed.

"Would you still be if I told you the whole truth?" Cornelia wondered.

"No matter what," Elyon said sincerely.

"I was so harsh towards you that time... Because the reason I broke up with Caleb was because of you," Cornelia said. Elyon looked shocked and guilty at this revelation. "Not like that," Cornelia said quickly. "There's no reason for you to feel bad. I just felt so strongly for you then... I loved Caleb, but I wasn't _in_ love with him. Not like with you. I could never feel like about about anyone else. I never got so close to anyone else... No... Elyon, I loved you then, and nothing's changed, I still do!" Cornelia shouted.

Elyon felt Cornelia embrace her. She felt her emotions rushing back. She had had such a crush on Cornelia back then, and never thought to act on it. With her here now, finally admitting her feelings, Elyon realized just how lonely she'd been. She'd been without companions. She had her adoptive parents, her loyal subjects, but no friends, or anyone who was really close to her. She mostly kept to herself. She bad been so lonely without her. Elyon hugged Cornelia back, and this time really did cry, not from sadness, but from everything she'd been holding in. She finally felt she could let down a front. "Cornelia, I feel the same," Elyon confessed.

Cornelia loosened her grip and then and then kissed Elyon. They let themselves fall to the bed. After the kiss, Elyon opened her eyes, and then cuddled close to Cornelia. "Elyon? Elyon?" Cornelia called. She was fast sleep. Cornelia let a smile come to her face as she let herself fall asleep too. There would be plenty of time for other things in the years to come. She'd learned from time and wouldn't ever let Elyon go again.


End file.
